


Following the Horizon

by Settiai



Category: Disenchantment (TV 2018)
Genre: Dysfunctional Family, Gen, One Shot, Yuletide, Yuletide 2019, Yuletide Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-17 22:42:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21950881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Settiai/pseuds/Settiai
Summary: Looking back, Oona should have gotten a divorce years ago.
Relationships: Bean | Tiabeanie & Queen Oona
Comments: 12
Kudos: 41
Collections: Yuletide 2019





	Following the Horizon

**Author's Note:**

  * For [IncurablePeppermint](https://archiveofourown.org/users/IncurablePeppermint/gifts).



Looking back, Oona should have gotten a divorce years ago.

It was appalling how easily she'd given up on her dreams, settling for so much less than she deserved for the sake of peace. Oh, it wasn't that she regretted marrying Zøg—

—actually, no, that was a lie. She regretted it. Frequently. Still, her marriage had given her Derek, so it had its good points. And it wasn't like that was the only good thing that had come out of it. Other than her son, there were many other things. Many.

She couldn't particularly think of any just then, but she was certain there were many. Or, at least, a few. One or two. Probably.

Whatever the case, unless someone offered her the chance to use time magic to travel back in time and change the past, she'd married Zøg and given up years of her life to be the queen to people who hated her. It was what it was. The important thing was that she'd finally left him, and she should have done it years earlier.

She hadn't realized how much she hated Dreamland until she'd put it behind her. (That was also a lie. She'd known from the start how much she hated the kingdom. If she couldn't lie to herself, though, who could she lie to?)

"You do realize that you've been staring out at nothing for, like, an hour? Right?"

Oona blinked and glanced over to her left. She hadn't noticed Bean coming up beside her, but there she was.

"I am a pirate queen," Oona replied with a shrug. "I can do what I want."

Bean stared at her for a moment before shaking her head. "Hey, it's your ship," she said. "I'm just a guest. Or prisoner. One of those."

The girl frowned, her brow furrowing in a way that reminded Oona almost painfully of Zøg. Oona quickly quashed that thought, pushing it deep down alongside other unimportant things like her concern for what might be happening back in Dreamland and tax codes and the names of the kingdoms that wanted to see her hanged for piracy.

"Am I supposed to tell people back home that you kidnapped me or rescued me?" Bean asked. "I'm still a little unclear on that part."

Oona gave her an unconcerned shrug. "Tell them whatever you want. It's not as if we will be heading back anytime soon."

The grin that appeared on Bean's face probably would have worried Queen Oona of Dreamland, but Pirate Queen Oona of the Thirteen Seas didn't care about such things. She had bigger things to worry about than a young woman who was barely more than a girl, even if said woman was technically her stepdaughter. Or, at least, her former stepdaughter.

But then again...

"How do you like being a pirate so far?" Oona asked curiously.

If anything, Bean's grin grew even wider. "It's great!" she said. "I totally should have taken you up on the offer when you first asked. You didn't mention how much rum there was to drink."

Oona sighed, even though she wasn't particularly surprised by the comment. "There is more to being a pirate than drinking rum."

"Oh, I know," Bean said quickly. "Luci's been teaching the crew some new ways to maim and torture that they'd never even heard of before, and Elfo's really good at tying knots that won't come loose." She lowered her voice before adding in a mutter: "Especially when he's not supposed to."

There was a story behind that addendum, and Oona very much didn't want to hear it. She let her gaze drift back out towards the horizon, where the sun was slowly sinking into the ocean. It would be dark soon, with the stars spreading out over them in the night sky like a beacon.

That was one of Oona's favorite things about being out on the sea. Well, besides the fighting and the killing and the stealing lots of money from rich people who couldn't stop them from taking it.

"Thanks for kidnapping me," Bean said quietly.

Oona blinked at that and glanced back over to her side. Bean was staring out at the water, her gaze very carefully not moving in Oona's direction.

It was odd, the two of them standing side-by-side. Oona had been a part of Bean's life since she was just a young girl, and yet both of them had kept each other at a distance. She'd never really felt like the girl's mother, and Bean had never particularly treated her as such. At least, not after the first few weeks that she'd been in Dreamland, once it had become clear to both of them that wasn't a role Oona would be good at filling.

And yet here they were, two women standing tall on a pirate ship, sailing out into the unknown with nothing in their future except a mystery. They weren't mother and daughter, not really. It was too late for that. But, still, they weren't strangers either.

She supposed they were somewhere in between. Perhaps, one day, they could at least be friends.

"It's been a while since the crew kidnapped anyone on purpose," Oona said, trying to keep her tone as matter-of-fact as possible. It was easier that way, for both of them. "You seemed like a good person for them to practice on."

Bean's eyes flickered in her direction, something shining in them that Oona didn't recognize and, honestly, she didn't want to try. Still, she didn't say anything. She just gave a nod before turning back towards the sun setting in the distance.

Oona glanced back at the horizon again herself. Then she sighed. She'd missed the moment where the sun hit the water's edge, lighting it up like a golden fire. It was her favorite part of the sunset, and once it was over... well, there wasn't much point in watching after that, not really. Not until the stars started to come out.

"Come on," Oona said, patting Bean on the shoulder before starting to head back towards the main deck. "It's time to drink the special rum and for me to find out what your friend the talking cat has been teaching my crew."

Bean blinked in surprise. The she turned and hurried after Oona. "Hey, wait for me!" she called out. "What special rum? Why didn't anyone tell me that there was _special_ rum?"

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on Twitter. (https://twitter.com/settiai)


End file.
